La Tasca Maiden Lane Covent Garden 020 7240 9062 Covent Garden	Dinner £50 ($75)	'How could you spend so much in a tapas bar?', I hear you ask. Simple, when you have your team Christmas party there. La Tasca, one of a swelling chain of tapas bars across England with several in the north, was our last chance of getting together, but it turned out to be for a price. We'd pre-ordered the Christmas menu, at £24.50 a head, for which a £10 deposit each was required up front and the rest several days in advance (and we couldn't get the evening we wanted - well, there were about 28 of us). After a 15-minute wait in the chilly December night as staff prepared our table, we were led through the thronged dining room with its faux bodega decor and down to the lower level to our table, where we endured another 20-25 minute wait while the drinks order got sorted (several pitchers of beer, sangia and bottles of wine - Siglo and Dominio de Montalvo Rioja - which were refreshed regularly through the evening). OK, we were noisy and demanding, but the staff had plenty of notice, not to mention our money. Then, eventually, the food came. And came. And came. What a shame most of it was very mediocre. There are too many courses to repeat them all here, so I'll mention the high, and low, lights. The selection of entrées was generally good, and included fresh bread topped with tuna, crab claws in olive oil and garlic and savoury tarts. Chorizo was also listed, but I don't remember seeing or eating any. I had several of the fresh anchovies wrapped around stuffed olives. Next came the first selection of tapas. Most disappointing was the lacklustre spanish omelette with spinach, which more resembled quiche than tortilla. Brochette of fish featured chunks of tuna and some other white fleshed fish - both as tough as each other and not very tasty. Casserole of lamb, which was also barely flavoured, was served with traditional rice with lentils. I missed out on the spanish manchego cheese as well as the sardines with paprika. Although I can't speak for my companions, around this point I felt as if I'd eaten enough, but there was more. The second tapas selection included paella rice with mixed seafood (just a spoonful), loin of pork cooked in red wine (just one, thanks) mixed seafood marinated in paprika and deep-fried (must have passed me by), patatas bravas (thankfully commandeered by the vegetarian in our midst), croquettes of mushrooms served with garlic mayonnaise and breast of chicken cooked in a wine, tomato and black olive sauce. I didn't see either of these last two. To finish it all off, a selection of 'tartes de Navidad', which apparently arrived after most of us had headed for the door. There was too much on offer, probably to justify the £24.50 food bill. I'd have been happier with half the amount with twice the quality for the same price. We forked out another £25 each for the booze. I found the service good natured and frantic, as you'd expect with nearly 30 people all wanting something at once, though I overheard several colleagues airing grievances. It's a shame that punters are being fobbed off with second rate food claiming to be a taste of Spain but which is nowhere near the fare I've had abroad, and charged a fortune for it, but I suppose it's what the modern go-getting chain is all about.
Meson Don Felipe revisted 11/00 020 7928 3237 Southwark	Dinner £30 ($40)	Again packed, but a short wait inside the door and we had our table for two, cheek by jowl with our neighbours. A large central bar serves up a range of traditional tapas to diners at the counter and high tables along both long walls, and a cluster of lower ones at each end. There's a perch diagonally opposite the front entrance for a flamenco guitarist to strum his stuff at intervals during the evening. We ordered a small selection, including bread (£1.95), olives (£2.50), patatas bravas (£2.95). sardines (£4.25), calamares romana (£4.95), chorizo £3.95), prawns (£4.95), meatballs (£3.95) and a couple of bottles of Coto Tinto (£9.95 each - well, it was at the tail end of a Saturday spent sampling the wares of the Anchor bankside pub). All very enjoyable, if you don't mind the wait and the crush.
La Rueda 642 King's Road 020 7384 2684 Fulham Broadway	Dinner £20 ($30)	La Rueda, one of a small chain of three, is a relative newcomer to the unfashionable end of the King's Road, but is a welcome addition to the growing number of eateries in the area. Attracting a lively local crowd most evenings, it doesn't stray far from the typical rustic tapas bar in decor and ambience. The main dining room features sturdy, polished wooden tables and chairs, with a long bar taking up most of the side wall and an open kitchen at the rear. After a quick drink we were guided up a couple of steps to a smaller, more sedate room with cloth covered tables. La Rueda also offers à la carte, but we chose from the tapas menu, including garlic bread (£1.20), prawns that arrived sizzling in garlic (£4.95), mussels (£3.75), calamares romana (squid rings, £4.60), chanquetes (whitebait, £2.95), baby squid with fries (£4.60), rinones (kidneys, again with fries) al jerez (£4,75), Spanish omelette (£3.00), thinly sliced cold chorizo (£3.10), jamon serrano (£4.50), pollo al ajillo (£3.50) and patatas bravas (£2.95). To accompany this feast we ordered a bottle of the Berberana Gran Reserva Rioja (£22.60), which I'd tried in Mallorca earlier this year. For me the highlights were the kidneys, tender and with a piquant sauce, the omelette, the whitebait and the serrano ham. I wasn't quite so keen on the baby squid, which came complete with membrane, ink sac and internal bits. I'd expected something more like the battered and deep fried variety I'd enjoyed abroad. The squid rings were large and firm without being cooked to the texture of rubber, while the mussels, in a mariniere style sauce, were tasty but tiny. I was also disappointed by the very insipid and pale sauce with the patatas bravas, expecting something with more bite. Service was smart and efficient, with the manager playing the genial host to the hilt. By the end we were rather full so declined dessert and coffee. We found it excellent value and I'll be looking for opportunities to return for the other tapas on offer as well as traditional dishes from the main menu.
Lomo 222 Fulham Road 020 7349 8848 Fulham Broadway	Dinner £22 ($33)	Spanish bar and food says the card, but apart from a few wines and the names of the dishes, or raciones, you would be hard pressed to identify which theme you were enjoying in this new modern venue. The decor successfully escapes the Spanish bodega effect, but merely brings to mind other faddish venues that are spawned in Chelsea, for instance Tall Orders, a gimmicky chain offering a disastrous combination of tapas and dim sum. Here, a curved blue ceiling hovers over the small dining room which features simple pottery shapes within little wall niches. Tall stools and tables fill the room beside the curved bar area and there is additional seating against the wall, with some low tables taking up the space at the back. We tried a couple of specials off the board - passable squid with alioli (£5.95) and a small portion of spinach tortilla (£3.50), together with fiery sizzling prawns (£6.50) and patatas bravas (£2.50) - potatoes with a basic and apparently homemade tomato ketchup. This was preceded by a couple of slices of a dense white bread with butter and a tiny dish of delicious olives. In all we found the food tasty but lacking in authenticity. The mostly Spanish wine list, which was soon to be updated according to our friendly waitress, also included several Chilean, Australian and Argentinian vintages. However we went with the theme and chose a very nice Rioja Sonsierra (£13.50), which proved to be the highlight of the evening.
Finca Tapas Bar 185 Kennington Lane 020 7735 1061 Kennington	Lunch £12 ($18)	One of the first in the tapas bar boom in the mid-80s, the Kennington branch could be mistaken for a Tex-Mex border venue. Unexciting tapas and wines. Also at 96-98 Pentonville Rd, N1.
Meson Don Felipe 53 The Cut Waterloo 020 7928 3237 Southwark	Dinner £15 ($24)	Generally packed venue virtually on the doorstep of the south bank's Old and Young Vic theatres. Live flamenco music serenaded diners on my visit and the tapas selection included tasty chorizo, tortilla and calamares. Good wine list features excellent Riojas.
Prices are per head for two-three courses, sharing a bottle of wine or a beer or two where appropriate
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